AstroSkipper

Very good examination! As Malwarebytes AdwCleaner 7.4.2.0 use the database from Oct 10th 2022 under Windows Vista, then it will most probably use the same database under Windows XP. Anyway! I assume there won't be any more recent database for this version in the future due to the lack of updates in the cloud for more than 6 months.

This thread is about antivirus programs targeting Windows XP SP3 only. Posting a list of antivirus programs targeting Windows Vista is not really helpful and rather misleading. There are a lot of versions inside this list which won't work under Windows XP SP3. Anyway!I know this list but it doesn't belong here. At least, you should change the headline to "AntiVirus & Security Software for Windows Vista". To answer your question, Malwarebytes Free v3.5.1 should serve perfectly your needs. I use Malwarebytes Premium v3.5.1 under Windows XP. It is the last version for Windows XP but still receives definition updates. Its detection rate is very good. Only the premium version has a background guard.

OT: Unfortunately not! I know this shop but I have never ordered anything there. BTW, that a shop is a German one says nothing about the quality of offered hardware, which in most cases is of Asian origin anyway nowadays. For old, already used hardware, I prefer eBay or eBay Kleinazeigen, and for new hardware, Amazon and some real shops in my surrounding.

AFAIAA, unfortunately not. But the last months, I have presented some different antivirus or antimalware programs here in the thread and disseminated information about them, all still working under Windows XP.

A few additional remarks about Total Commander I totally forgot to mention in my quoted post. I find it simply incredible that the current version 10.52 of Total Commander is still compatible with Windows 95 and higher. Apart from that, there are a few things to note that make this file manager unique: comparing files and folders, creating and verifying checksums, establishing data connections via FTP, LAN and WLAN, integrating external programs in the form of functional buttons (for example TeraCopy), filing important program links (shortcuts), bookmarks for important folders, installing specific plugins to access external file systems like Ext2, Ext3, Ext4, exFAT etc. apart from FAT32 and NTFS, and the possibility of activating further functions by modifying the two settings files wincmd.ini and wcx_ftp.ini to meet the individual needs of the user even more. wincmd.ini is the main configuration file, and wcx_ftp.ini contains everything related to FTP connections. And all that I have listed here is just a drop in the ocean.You won't really be able to list all the functions of Total Commander. Even after 28 years, I regularly discover new functions. And I particularly often use the copy and move function for files and folders with integrated checksums' verification, which can be modified in the settings file wincmd.ini so that both the current date and the creation date of files are not changed. Here is a description of the settings for Total Commander's main configuration file wincmd.ini: https://www.ghisler.ch/wiki/index.php?title=Wincmd.ini And here is a screenshot of my TC's main window including some markers and the mentioned settings files, which can be edited at any time: Cheers, AstroSkipper

I was searching this thread and I noticed that one of the most important programs for Windows has never been mentioned here, even though I use it most often day by day. It is Total Commander, probably the best known and in my opinion the most powerful file manager for Windows ever. Total Commander (TC) is a two-column file manager for Windows modelled on the legendary Norton Commander from the days of DOS. There are also free variants for the smartphone and tablet operating systems Android, Blackberry, Windows Phone and Windows 10 Mobile. Total Commander allows convenient file management, offers an integrated ZIP utility, an FTP client, a multi-rename tool, a very good search function with filters, and so on. Its functionality can be extended easily by addons. Here is a picture of TC's main window: Homepage: https://www.ghisler.com Download page: https://www.ghisler.com/download.htm Addons page: https://www.ghisler.com/addons.htm And here are all 12 screenshots from TC's homepage to demonstrate different features: https://www.ghisler.com/screenshots/en/01.html Many features of Total Commander are described here: https://www.ghisler.com/featurel.htm The latest version is 10.52 from 26-10-2022 and still XP-compatible. Although it is shareware, it is fully functional. There is only a small nag screen when the program is started. Total Commander is offered in form of different installers. A 32-bit version only, a 64-bit version only and a 64-bit+32-bit combined. The 32-bit version is compatible with Windows 95 up to Windows 11, the 64-bit version with Windows XP up to Windows 11 and the 64-bit+32-bit combined with Windows 95 up to Windows 11. There are installers for USB sticks and even a 16 bit version for Windows 3.1. Total Commander has a multiple language and Unicode support. Total Commander is my favourite and most used program, even under Android. I use Total Commander (formerly Windows Commander) since 1995 and can recommend it without any reservations due to 28 years only positive experiences. Greetings, AstroSkipper

Linguistically a little curious, but if the function "define" is simply not defined, it still makes sense.

Thank you! So far all is good. All my four IDE hard disk in my Windows XP computer are in an excellent condition. And I have two Dawicontrol SATA PCI cards on reserve. But I hope I do not have to use them. I think I would even rather change the motherboard.

DreamMail Pro - Update information! DreamMail Pro has been updated again and is now available in version 6.6.6.8. It is still XP-compatible, and the development is ongoing! I have not been able to find a version history on their homepage. Therefore, I generated an official version history and provide it here: And here is the download link of DreamMail Pro 6.6.6.8: https://dl.cy-email.com/dm6/Download/dmpro_setup6.6.6.8.exe To force the updated installer of DreamMail Pro 6.6.6.8 to use English instead of Chinese as the installer language, I updated again my small loader that does this when it calls up the setup program. It must be executed in the same directory in which the setup file is located with its original file name dmpro_setup6.6.6.8.exe. Here is the download link of my loader Force_En_Install_DM_Pro_6668.exe: https://www.mediafire.com/file/1bdbimf2eq6m21l/Force_En_Install_DM_Pro_6668.7z/file Although some virus scanners detect this file as malicious, it is just a false-positive as always. Use my loader to force an English install, only if you trust me, of course! Cheers, AstroSkipper

To all real (no VM) Windows XP SP3 (32 Bit) Professional POSReady users! Is anyone else here in the forum who can or can't confirm this issue described in the quoted posts? I am still interested in a confirmation in terms of the issue described in the quoted posts above to decide whether it is POSReady related or not. This request is addressed to all members using a real (no VM) Windows XP SP3 (32 Bit) Professional, fully updated including all POSReady Updates. Or am I the only real XP (32 Bit) user here? Thanks in advance! Greetings, AstroSkipper

Of course, not! The last years, only from time to time. All for nostalgic and rather sentimental reasons! It's just contemporary history. And I have always been an Atari fan.

Unfortunately, a lot of problems. No space for additional PCI cards. Quality of IDE-SATA adapters, lack of space, compatibility problems, IRQ incompatibilities and so on. I've already bought IDE-SATA adapters and expansion cards, but I'm happy if my old computer doesn't need any further modification. This cheap electronic stuff has burnt me out before. I am not really a friend of such adapters.

Unfortunately, it is not as simple as you describe here. You can't buy a new PATA meaning an IDE hard disk anymore, and that for years. They are not produced anymore. In old systems, there is no SATA controller or can no longer be retrofitted so easily. Old systems lack of PCIe slots, they have PCI only. Therefore, it could be important to maintain and take care of old IDE hard disks and their data as long as possible.

Yep, but I have a feeling that it wouldn't be as much fun. And here, members meet who don't necessarily follow the maxim "Brevity is the soul of wit".

Well, sarcasm is unfortunately a rhetorical stylistic device that tends to backfire. Isn't it? AstroSkipper

For installing unsigned web extensions in Serpent 52 and 55 (moebius! ) they have first to be compatible with these browsers. Deleting any files from the folder META-INF of a xpi file does not do anything, and is therefore no solution. Furthermore, only setting the preference xpinstall.signatures.required to false, which is already the default setting in Serpent, is no solution, either. To install such an unsigned web extension permanently (there is no META-INF folder in its archive, or it has been removed) in Serpent, the file manifest.json has to be modified to assign a unique ID to this extension. For testing purpose, I did that in the case of the web extension save-as-ebook 1.4.2 loaded from https://github.com/alexadam/save-as-ebook/tree/master/web-extension which lacks of such an ID in its file manifest.json. After assigning a unique ID to it, I packed the complete extension into a zip file and renamed it to save-as-ebook-1.4.2.xpi. If done, it can be installed then as usual, works as it should and also survives the next browser restart. Without enabling add-on debugging which would only result in a temporary loading of the web extension anyway! As a unique ID, I chose user-save-as-ebook@email.com. Here is a screenshot as a proof: Cheers, AstroSkipper

OT: My first computers were an Atari 800 XL with 64 KB RAM from 1984 and an Atari 1040 ST with 1 MB RAM (upgraded to unbeliebable 4 MB) from 1986. One year later, 1987, I bought an external Quantum HDD for my Atari 1040 ST. This HDD is now an unbelievable 36 years old and still working. And both Atari computers, too. A Quantum hard disk was something like a Mercedes at that time and of the very best quality. I am quite sure that you won't get any HDDs in these days which last such a long time. And I should mention that this Quantum HDD never got any data refreshing in all the 36 years. It seems that hard disks of such quality probably don't need that either.

Right! That's why I included it in my collection of emergency programs years ago. I have a bag with many CDs and DVDs for emergencies (more than 100). With these programs, I can access my hard drives, partitions or hardware from the outside of my Windows system partition at any time. BTW, all repairs in terms of computers I do myself, if it is still repairable at all, and have a lot of special tools and measuring instruments for this. All of my computers are built, modified and maintained by myself. AstroSkipper

If I had the need to refresh a more recent HDD, I would give DiskFresh a try. A tool similar to Spinrite is HDD Regenerator. And defragmenting a partition or restoring an image has also the effect of refreshing data. So such a special tool like DiskFresh is rather targeting HDDs which were stored outside as a backup or are used rarely. And there are certainly many other tools that perform read/write operations as one of many features. Therefore, probably no need for more such specialized tools.

Just for clarification! I use Spinrite 6.0 only on old PATA HDDs. I would never think of using such old hardware-related software on current disks. Such considerations would be simply absurd. All has to be sensible or in some cases even time-period correct and has to match the necessary system requirements. However, the HDDs in my anchient Windows XP computer (year of manufacture 2000 and BIOS from 2002) are all very old and match the system requirements for using Spinrite. Newer hardware means logically more recent tools for such measures. And I already stated: AstroSkipper

Glad you like my suggestion! The tools from Nirsoft are simply great, and this has been the case for many years. I used the tool MZCacheView in the past, and the path to the cache folder of the browser profile directory has to be adjusted there, too. Nirsoft offers such tools for all major browsers like Firefox, Chrome, Opera and the old IE.

As I already wrote in previous posts, I used Spinrite 6.0 in the past, and it helped me to refresh old HDDs and to check a few pending sectors on them which were then remapped as good. This program has served me well. And I wouldn't hesitate to use it again if there were problems on my old disks. HDDs that don't survive this tool wouldn't last much longer anyway. A backup of their data is mandatory, only if possible, of course. Just to be on the sunny side of the street!

FYI: And that means information about our TLS proxies and certificates can be easily found in my main article and in this thread without any problems in seconds. Kind regards, AstroSkipper

Thank you! TBH, I always do what I consider to be sensible and right.

OT: Maybe, you perform a statistical investigation to get data in terms of correlation. That would be very interesting for me as a mathematician. AstroSkipper